Nearly 70% of health facilities in the northern region of Tigray in Ethiopia have been vandalized and equipment looted, an MSF report found.
The facilities were attacked ‘intentionally’ to make them ‘non-functional’, Files Sans Frontières said.
The situation had a ‘devastating’ impact on the population, the organization said in a statement.
The Ethiopian authorities say most health services have been restored.
The conflict erupted in Tigray on November 4, 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered an offensive to oust the region’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), after its fighters captured federal military bases in the region. has.
Fighting continues despite the fact that Mr. Abiy declared victory at the end of November.
The situation in Tigray ‘remains extremely worrying’ and the conflict is still displacing people, the UN Humanitarian Office (OCHA) said last week.
It added that although aid workers now had access to some parts of the region, “many people remain in hard-to-reach areas due to insecurity, logistical and administrative barriers”.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in the past five months, a situation that has caused condemnation around the world.
Last month, Amnesty International accused troops in neighboring Eritrea of killing hundreds of people in the ancient city of Aksum on November 28 and 29, saying the massacres could amount to a crime against humanity.
What is the state of health centers in Tigray?
Only 13% of the 106 facilities that MSF teams visited between December and early March were operating normally.
They also found destroyed equipment, smashed doors and windows, and distributed medicine and patient files across floors in health centers in Debre Abay and May Kuhli in northwestern Tigray.
During a visit to a hospital in the central city of Adwa, it was found that medical equipment, including ultrasound machines and monitors, had been deliberately smashed.
A hospital in the city of Semema was set on fire while a maternity ward in Sebeya was destroyed after the facility was hit by a rocket, MSF reported.
The looting of health facilities continues, the organization said.
The Ethiopian embassy in London said in a statement to the BBC that 75% of the hospitals in Tigray are now operational and 10% are partially operational.
It added that 90% of health workers provide the necessary health services and that they have launched a Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the region.
Who is to blame?
MSF did not name perpetrators directly, but called on ‘armed groups in the conflict’ to respect and protect health facilities and medical staff.
It accused Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers of occupying some hospitals. Both the government denied that Eritrean troops entered Tigray despite persistent reports.
More about the Tigray conflict:
‘The army used the Abiy Addi hospital [in central Tigray] as a military base and to stabilize their injured soldiers, ‘said MSF emergency coordinator Kate Nolan.
“During that time, it was not accessible to the general population. They had to go to the city’s health center, which was not equipped to provide secondary medical care. For example, they could not do blood transfusions or treat gunshot wounds,” she said. said. added.
MSF also accused Eritrean soldiers of using a health facility in Mugulat in eastern Tigray as their base.
It also accuses the armed groups of seizing ambulances.
But Ethiopian authorities blame TPLF fighters for the damage to health infrastructure.
What was the impact?
Tigray used to have one of the best health systems in Ethiopia, with a network of health posts in towns, health centers and hospitals in cities, but according to MSF, the conflict ‘almost completely collapsed’ the system.
In the past four months, children have not been vaccinated, making them vulnerable to infectious diseases in the future, the charity said.
Pregnant women, patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and HIV, as well as psychiatric patients, go without life-saving drugs, he added.
“Health facilities need to be rehabilitated and receive more supplies and ambulances, and staff need to receive salaries and the opportunity to work in a safe environment,” said Oliver Behn, director of MSF.
The Ethiopian embassy in London said MSF’s assessment did not acknowledge the government’s efforts to rectify the infrastructure and recognize the recovery of the health sector, “which is rapidly returning to service”.